News Release

Kubuqi Model lauded by international community as one Chinese Expertise to comprehensive desertification control

Time：2017-08-09Browse Number：231Source：库布其国际沙漠论坛

The sixth Kubuqi International
Desert Forum was held from July 28 to July 30 in the Kubuqi Desert in Ordos,
Inner Mongolia. Participating guests from other countries visited Kubuqi and
witnessed the successful practices of Kubuqi’s desertification control. The
forum offered them better understanding of the Kubuqi Model. They believe that
the Kubuqi Model will play an important role in desertification control in
countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. International conferences held in
China are becoming attractive platforms for sharing effective experiences in
promoting global ecological development.

Effective
systematic planning

The core pillars of the Kubuqi
Model are government policy support, industrial investment, market-oriented
participation of farmers and herdsmen and sustainable ecological improvement.

Many countries along the Belt and
Road Initiative suffered desertification, and that good design plays a key role
in helping China create the Kubuqi Model, a unique path of desertification control.
Said Pradeep Monga, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention
to Combat Desertification.He also said that with joint efforts, the public
sectors and private sectors have introduced an innovative mode for
desertification control. It empowers the land with greater productivity. It
contributes to a sustainable development and creates more employment
opportunities." I'm very glad to witness the real achievements Kubuqi
solution has secured." he said.

“It is amazing! “Antonis Samaras, Former Greek
Prime Minister said,“I see that human beings could turn desert into oasis. This
is a miracle. They could transform the nightmare into perspective, with plenty
of joy and hope. Therefore I would like to say congratulations to China.”

A globally
popular model

The Kubuqi Model has been praised
by the UN Environment Programme for desertification control and being an
“eco-pioneer” in greening the world thanks to its success in ecological
restoration. The Kubuqi Model has become a name card for China’s
desertification control efforts. In order to promote and share the experience
of combating desertification, the Kubuqi International Desert Forum was
established in 2007 and has been held five times thanks to the support of
governments at all levels, relevant departments, the UN Eviroment and the UNCCD
secretariat. More than 2,000 political dignitaries, experts and ecological
entrepreneurs from around the world have participated in field trips,
professional exchanges and experience sharing via forums and benefited greatly
from them.

The Kubuqi Model has become a
popular topic in several meetings and dialogues of the sixth Kubuqi
International Desert Forum. Participating foreign guests believed that the
Kubuqi Model should be widely shared in countries along the Belt and Road
Initiative.

Prof. Atsushi Tsunekawa from Arid
Land Research Center, Tottori University in Japan, said it was urgent for
countries along the Belt and Road Initiative to cooperate over ecological
restoration. They need to conduct risk assessment for environmental and
sustainable development.

Elvis Paul Tangem, the
coordinator from The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Intiative,
Africa Union Commission,said that it's always a dream of his to witness in
person what Kubuqi has achieved in antidesertification，which he had never seen before,
which completely changed his perception.

"I'm very impressed, and
motivated." said Arslanbek Omurzakov, Deputy director of Center for Study
of the Silk Road, Kyrgyzstan, “after hearing about Kubuqi's experience in
antidesertification，the change is not only imposed on eco-system,
but also on the whole society, which makes it sustainable. ”He wishes the
technology could be introduced to more countries or enterprises.

Shafqat Kakakhel, Chairman of
Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad Pakista said: Kubuqi model
is a miracle of modernization,and this success hinges on the will of the
Chinese government. He said that according to China's Kubuqi experience can
draw the following conclusions: first it need a political commitment. Which is
impetus fromtop political leaders.
Second, there is a proper policy. Thirdly, there should be appropriate
political institutions. Moreover, it need to promote science and technology.
Finally, the most important is participation from community and individuals in
all aspects of society.

Kubuqi
brings hope

Desert control is a worldwide
problem, and the Kubuqi Desert is the first desert in the world to achieve
large-scale successful control.

The success of Kubuqi Model
relies mainly on increasing local people’s income in the greening efforts via
the combination of ecology and industry, enterprise development and ecological
management. These efforts will expand oases and happiness while reducing desert
and poverty.

Prof. Victor Squires from the
University of Adelaide, Australia, saidthe Kubuqi International Desert Forum had prompted people in all areas
to think about desertification, and that the Kubuqi Model has made it impossible
to find just one solution to the challenge by showing that land users are both
part of the problem and part of the solution. The Kubuqi Model also provides a
way for transformation, which gives us hope.

British Bio-Carbon engineering
company founder and CEO Lauren Fletcher said that Kubuqi’s achievements in
desertification control was very impressive and the delegation from his company
felt excited for participating in the forum. He also said that drones tree
planting technologies need to be further developed so as to contribute to
combating desertification.

These achievements point out the
direction for desertification control and hope it will achieve greater success
in the future to help the 2 billion hectares desertification worldwide.

A Chinese expertise to ecological
restoration

After the forum ended, experts
believed the forum let participants see that Kubuqi’s concept of green
development and experiences of sustainable development can offer fundamental
solutions to help peaceful development of the desertification regions involving
over 2 billion people globally. Many guests are looking forward to the 13th
General Assembly of the Contracting Parties to the UN Convention to Combat
Desertification, which will be held in Ordos and might bring together more
unique solutions and richer consensus. The ecological development in countries
along the Belt and Road Initiative need both Chinese expertise as well as China
being one sharing platform.